Who once went wrong
by OTR Barcelona
Summary: Amy and Rory receive an unexpected visitor in the TARDIS. And the Doctor finds himself powerless to help them.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Amy and Rory stood well back, observing the multitude of sparks flying from the console. They knew full well their alien friend was in the midst of them, because they could hear his voice, but if either of them had been asked to say just where he was along the console, neither of them would have had any idea.

"Okay, I think we're in orbit", the Timelord's voice echoed from behind the control panel. "We should be safe now".

But Amy wasn't convinced. "Can't we just land?"

Now the Doctor's head appeared from beneath the console. His hair was an even bigger mess than usual, and he seemed to look both surprised and disappointed. Not with his companions, Amy told herself, rather with his ship. He thought he had better tell them something. "Land? That's what I'm trying to do. But for some reason the controls have started acting up. Almost like they had a mind of their own! We should be safe enough in this orbit. For now".

Rory seemed as confused as ever. "You know, Doctor, for such an advanced vehicle, doesn't the TARDIS break down rather often?"

The Timelord briskly strode over to the pair. Amy knew that the last comment wouldn't have gone down well. "Rory Pond, that's what I've been trying to tell you. This isn't the TARDIS".

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know. It's like some outside timey-wimey force is trying to get in". Then he smiled, proudly. "But I think I've fixed it now".

The Doctor stood there, waiting for praise and adoration from his fellow travellers. But if he had had a list of things to expect, what actually happened would have been right down at the bottom.

His hands suddenly started to glow. For a split instant, he thought he may have contracted some unknown wound or disease, and be starting to regenerate. But he soon realised that wasn't it. The white light flowed from his hands, and encompassed his entire body. He looked up at his companions who just stood there like nothing was happening. His entire body was glowing, and they didn't seem to notice! He tried to focus on Amy, but she continued to look calmly at him, even as the white light totally obscured his vision.

After a split instant eternity, the light faded from his eyes and he could see again. But he was no longer in the TARDIS. He was in a white room, totally empty except for a small table he was resting his hands on. He wasn't even wearing his normal clothes, but what looked like the most plain white pair of trousers and T-shirt he had ever seen. Gingerly, he moved his hands from the table and walked over to the wall. The room was round and totally silent, and there was no sign of a door.

The Doctor started as he heard a clunk. Turning around he saw a panel in the wall rise to make an entrance. In the newly created door stood a little man. He seemed to be about fifty years old, wore grey trousers and a shiny silver jacket. He had dark hair and was smoking on a particularly pungent cigar. In his hands was what looked like a glowing Rubix cube, like someone had got a set of square lights and stuck them together. He took the cigar out of his mouth and spoke in an East Coast American accent.

"Don't be startled, it's okay. I just need to know your name".

But the Doctor didn't want to play along. "Is this an abduction?"

The little man sighed. "Look, I know this must be totally weird, but trust me, everything'll be a lot easier if you just tell me your name and what year it is".

"'What year'? You mean I've travelled in time?"

The other man coughed. "I know, it takes a lot of getting used to, but if you just answer my questions, we'll get you back. And don't worry. It's okay to be shocked. To most people, time travel's just a load of science fiction".

"Well to me, time travel's a way of life. My name's the Doctor, and are you telling me that humans have invented time travel?"

"Just keep it to yourself. Now you say your name's the Doctor. Doctor who?"

Amy and Rory had been expecting a lecture from the Doctor about just how wonderful the TARDIS was. But he just seemed to stand before them and look at them as if he'd never laid eyes on them before. Concerned, Amy broke the silence. "Doctor, are you okay?"

Their companion didn't answer, but looked around the room they were in, and when he finally spoke, he didn't say anything like Amy was expecting. "Air".

"Sorry?" replied Amy.

"I need a little air". And with that he almost dove straight at the TARDIS door and seemed to wrench it open. At the sight that greeted him, he let out a scream and fell backwards. Slowly he rose to his feet as his companions gathered around him. He stared open mouthed through the door at the stars and the planet earth they were in orbit around. Amy held him on his right side, and Rory on his left. "Doctor, why did you do that?" asked Amy, almost irritated. Slowly their companion turned his head to face her and, like someone in deep shock, managed to choke out two words. "Oh boy!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Doctor sat on the floor, his back resting against the smooth wall, feeling its coolness through the thin white shirt he now wore. He folded his arms in a vain effort to convey his impatience to Al. That was his name, Al Calavicci. He'd told the Doctor his name to hopefully get some more information out of the Timelord. It hadn't worked.

Now equally impatient and a little worried, Al continued to question the other man.

"I'll ask one more time: what's your name?"

"And I'll ask one more time. Where and when am I? You say that humans have invented time travel? Then that poses a very big problem".

Al seemed to abandon hope of extracting information the normal way. Could it be that for the first time in three years he was going to have to resort to sodium pentathol? He turned around to the door of the room, and was about to shout to Gushie to fetch the chemicals and the syringe. But then he paused. For a reason he couldn't quite understand, he decided to humour the stranger. "And why does that pose a problem?"

"Because humans don't invent time travel until the late thirty-eighth century". The Doctor pointed to Al's cigar, now little more than a withered stump in his hand. "And by then no one, and I mean absolutely no one smokes those".

Al gave his captive a wry smile. "Late thirty-eighth century, huh? Well that's where you're wrong. It's 1998". He turned once again to the door.

The Doctor pushed himself up with his legs, and now stood at his full height. "'1998'? But that's impossible. You don't even have quantum crystals by then. Who on this planet in 1998 could possibly invent time travel?"

Reluctantly Al turned to face the Doctor again. "Maybe you've heard of Doctor Sam Beckett?"

"Sam Beckett", the Doctor repeated. "American physicist, born in 1953, very prominent in all the science magazines until 1995 when he mysteriously disappeared. Is that where he went? Did he travel in time?"

Al saw no point in keeping the truth from the stranger anymore. He'd already told him far more than he had intended, and now that his curiosity seemed to have piqued, he thought he may as well feed the dog another bone and hope for some answers. He folded his arms and began. "Yes. That's right. Doctor Beckett went on a journey in time. He'd been working on a theory for years, and in 1995, he decided to test the machine he'd built on himself".

"So did he go backwards or forwards in time?"

"Backwards. You can't go forwards".

The Doctor sniggered. "Right. Of course. So what year did he end up in? Did he have a knees up with Julius Caesar? Or did he become a knight of the Round Table? No, scratch that, he's American. He went to meet Abraham Lincoln, didn't he?"

Al tried as best as he could to ignore the Doctor's annoying grin. "He can only leap within his own lifetime. He ended up in the fifties".

"And managed to stay out of the history books".

"Course he did. See when he leaps, he has to take the place of someone in history. Just like he's done with you".

"And I suppose no one notices Dr Beckett's arrival?"

"No, never. See, everyone else still sees and hears the person Sam's leapt into".

"So why did he choose to go to the fifties? Did he want to see Elvis live?"

Now Al was definitely irritated. "He didn't have a choice. He never has a choice. He doesn't know where he's going to end up next. He just leaps from person to person, through time, trying to do the right thing, and he doesn't have any damn control over where he ends up next".

Not noticing, or perhaps ignoring that Al was beginning to get upset, the Doctor continued. "So let's get this straight. Sam Beckett invents a machine in 1995 that sends him through time, only within his own lifetime, pulling people to the present as he goes, and he has absolutely no control over where he ends up?"

Al nodded. "Yes".

The Doctor's eyes widened. "See I knew humans couldn't have invented time travel so early! That's not time travel, that's a crude form of time hop scotch! So I take it that Dr Beckett is now in my place?" As Al nodded again, a mask of horror suddenly crept over the Doctor's face. "So he's in the TARDIS. With Amy and Rory. Twenty miles up in orbit around planet earth. Why didn't you tell me? And how could I forget?"

Al was more than slightly relieved that he could now play the role of teacher. "To answer your first question: because I didn't know. That was the information I was trying to get from you. And as to your second question, one of the side effects of leaping is selective amnesia. We call it Swiss-cheesing".

"Like I said, 'crude time hop scotch'. Why do you call it 'Swiss-cheesing' anyway? Is it because it makes your brain hard and go off?"

"No, because Swiss cheese is full of holes. Just like your memory. Now are you going to help me or not?"

But before the Doctor could answer, Al grabbed his shoulder. "Wait a minute! Did you say Sam's in orbit?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

This is going to be a weird one, thought Sam. Travelling through time he'd ended up in more than his fair share of strange places, but never one quite like this. He was wearing a bowtie and a long green coat, and in some bizarre vehicle with a British couple who called him "Doctor". Even stranger was that they seemed to be time travellers. The man was called Rory, and he was a nurse, and his red headed wife seemed to be called either Amy or Amelia. They both seemed very concerned about him; when he had almost fainted at the sight of open space, somehow being held back by an invisible force field, they had given him some water and sat him next to what they referred to as the "console", which was a control panel that seemed to have been assembled in the dark. It was a mass of wires and levers, but also included a hot and cold tap, a typewriter, and what seemed to be a glass sculpture in a glass cylinder. After a good hour, Rory was still playing the part of nurse.

"Just breathe, Doctor. Do you need some more water?"

Sam looked down at the empty cup which now seemed to be welded to his hand. "No, I'm fine thanks". He did his best to give a confident smile. But Rory's wife was still worried.

"Doctor what happened? You were repairing the console, and you just seemed to freak out. You said some outside force was attacking the TARDIS".

"'TARDIS'?"

Amy spread her arms out. "This. This vehicle. It's called the TARDIS. Doctor, did you hit your head?"

Before Sam could answer, a door opened revealing a bright light. Amy and Rory, of course, didn't notice. But to Sam, it was the most welcome sight in the universe. His companion Al walked through it, smoking a freshly lit cigar. Ziggy was beeping away in his left hand. Sam felt better immediately. "Al! Boy am I glad to see you! I don't know what's happened, but I've landed somewhere really strange!"

The hologram gave a knowing stare. "You think this is weird, you should see the guy in the Waiting Room".

"The Doctor?"

"Yeah, that's what he calls himself. Sam, do you realise you're in orbit?""

Amy again approached Sam. "Doctor, who are you talking to?" Thinking quickly, Sam noticed something on the console that looked like a telephone receiver. He picked it up and put it to his ear, and smiled warmly at the girl. "Phonecall". Amy nodded uneasily and joined her husband who was observing Sam from the lower level of the TARDIS, near the hat stand. Sam pretended to speak into the phone. "Al, what's going on?"

"Well, it's 1959. You're in orbit about twenty miles above the Arizona desert. When the Doctor told me that I thought I'd have to use the sodium pentathol. But I got Gushie to check it out, and it turned out to be true. I think you're on some kind of spaceship. In fact, let me check it out".

Sam tried to stop his companion, but, since he appeared only as a hologram, he knew it was impossible to stop him when his curiosity got the better of him. He pressed a button on the side of Ziggy's hand module which zapped him immediately to the door near the hat stand. He then calmly proceeded to walk through the door. A good few moments passed, and Sam was beginning to get worried when Al walked back through the door, with a look on his face like he'd just seen a ghost. Pressing the button on the hand module again, he appeared at the console, next to Sam. The scientist didn't want to be kept in the dark any longer. "Al, what's wrong?" The other man took in a deep breath. "Sam, it's just a small box!"

"A small box?"

"Yeah, a wooden blue box. It's bigger on the inside!"

"'Bigger on the inside'?"

Amy heard Sam's last utterance. "Course it is. Doctor, are you okay?"

Sam clasped the receiver firmly to his ear. "I'm fine. I'm just speaking to my friend, Al".

He heard Rory say that he'd never mentioned anyone called "Al" before, but that didn't bother him at the moment. "Al, what can I do? I can't land this thing. The controls are totally crazy. Anyway, what does Ziggy say I'm here to do?"

"At the moment, Ziggy has no idea. For the first time ever, she has no clue".

"Well, can't you get the Doctor to tell you how I can land this thing? I'll feel much better once I get back to earth".

Reluctantly, Al nodded. Then he lifted his head slightly and raised his voice. "Gushie, bring the Doctor to the Imaging Chamber!"

For long moments Sam continued to cast his eyes over the levers and buttons on the bizarre control panel. His main thought was just to avoid more questions from Amy and Rory. His many leaps in time had made him extremely good at coming up with excuses and explanations for what must seem to be bizarre behaviour on his part, but he was beginning to think that all his previous experience wouldn't be any use to him here.

Mercifully, before any further awkward questions were put to him, he saw the familiar sight of the imaging chamber door opening. At first he couldn't see anything beyond the bright light, but when Al reached out toward the door, a strange man appeared. If Sam had tried to describe this "Doctor", the man whose shoulder Al's hand was now resting on would hardly have been the first image to come to mind. He seemed to be in his mid twenties. He had an oddly shaped, pale face, with a mop of long dark hair coming down over his eyes. Both time travellers looked at each other. Al couldn't work out whether it was mutual respect, or a knowing glance; he thought he'd better break the awkward silence. "Okay, now as long as I'm touching him, you'll be able to see him, but you won't be able to hear him". The Doctor impatiently turned to Al and said something Sam couldn't lip read. Al then looked at Sam with an almost envious expression on his face. "And believe me, that makes you the lucky one". Sam just smiled as Al continued. "Now, what's going to happen is the Doctor will point to all the switches you need to press. And when he nods at you, you have to wait three and a half seconds, and pull…", he paused as the Doctor pointed his finger, "… this lever. That should bring you to a safe landing. We'll disappear when you start to phase out (I don't really understand any of this), but we'll be there when you land. You got that?" Sam swallowed and nodded. He slowly put down the telephone receiver, and addressed the young couple also in the ship. "Hold on tight, guys. I'm going to try to land". Amy and Rory grabbed tight on whatever they could find. Sam nodded toward the Doctor and said a silent prayer.

With no warning, the Doctor shot forward. Al's arm was stretched to its full length just to keep his image visible to Sam. The Doctor pointed to a seemingly random series of switches. After pressing only one or two buttons, Sam decided that the controls of this strange craft were totally counter-intuitive to anything he had ever seen, leaving him in the uncomfortable position of putting all his trust in this stranger.

But remarkably, he seemed to know what he was doing. The pitch of the engines (if they really were engines) began to change, and the glass structure in the glass cylinder started to move slowly up and down. Only once did the Doctor vigorously shake his head when Sam was about to press a wrong button. Then, just when Sam had got used to following the Doctor's hand movements, the stranger nodded his head at Sam, making his long hair shake. Sam just managed to gather his wits and count three and a half seconds before pulling the lever. There was a strange "whooshing" sound, and the image of Al and the Doctor abruptly faded from Sam's vision. And then everything was still. Sam noticed the young couple relax their grip on the rails. The young girl was clearly anxious. "Doctor, have we landed?"

Sam smiled as he nodded. "Think so. Let's see". Just as he had when he first materialised, he ran across the room and opened the door next to the hat stand. He was greeted by a warm sun and sand and blue sky as far as the eye could see. Al and the Doctor now appeared outside the craft, and the Doctor mumbled something to Al. "What did he say?" asked Sam.

Al turned to his companion. "Oh, he says that there's hope for you yet".

As Sam stepped out of the craft, Rory and Amy followed. "Doctor, are you all right?" asked Rory. Sam turned to face his companions. "Just give me a moment, Rory…". His sentence trailed off as he saw the craft they had just left. It was a blue box, no bigger than a telephone cabin. His mouth dropped open as he started to walk around it. Amy was about to say something, but Rory took her hand and stopped her, wanting to respect Sam's last request. Al followed Sam to the back of the ship. "Like I said: bigger on the inside".

Sam's mind raced. "Al, this is incredible. It must be some kind of tesseract space trapped within the wooden frame. This kind of thing is only at theoretical stages, but…". Again, he was cut off, this time by Ziggy's beeping. Al lifted the small computer and read off the screen. "Okay, Sam, Ziggy thinks she's worked out why you're here: there's a 94% chance it's to do with the nuclear testing going on in the desert".

Sam's face turned to a mask of horror. "'Nuclear testing'?"

Al nodded. "Yeah, in three hours a bomb goes off five miles away…", he pivoted around, getting his bearings, and then pointed out across the sand. "…over there. In 1965, some remains were discovered that scientists believed were human".

"Five miles and back in three hours. Cutting it a little close, isn't it?"

Al hit the side of the computer in frustration and it gave out a simulated screaming sound. "Well, they find the remains of what they think is some off road vehicle as well, so you'll probably be able to get back a lot quicker".

Sam nodded. "Okay. So I'd best get going straightaway".

"Not without us you don't", came Amy's voice. "Doctor, what's going on?"

"You have been acting very odd", Rory agreed reluctantly.

Sam knew he needed to be decisive. "Look, I can't tell you why, but I need to get going now. There are people in danger and I have to save them. You two, stay here. No point risking your lives as well".

Amy folded her arms. "And like I say, you're not going anywhere without us".

Sam knew he had no time to argue. "Okay", he nodded. He then hurried off in the direction Al had pointed him in. As the hologram watched his friend depart, he pressed the button to open the imaging chamber door once more. If anything were to happen unexpectedly, the Doctor would need to be in the waiting room. He figured it was a pity; as strange and annoying as the Doctor was, his advice may have come in handy to Sam and his newfound companions.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Gushie?" shouted Al. "Where's that guy got to?"

Al and the Doctor had just left the Imaging Chamber. Al had been reluctant to leave Sam and his companions back in the Arizona Desert in 1959, but he knew he had no choice. He had to get the Doctor back to the Waiting Room as soon as possible. And now, just to add to his troubles, Gushie had disobeyed his direct order to wait for him at the door to the Imaging Chamber. He couldn't conceal his worries and frustration. "Damn that guy! Don't tell me he just went for a coffee again?" The Doctor turned to him with a blank expression on his face. A face, he'd decided, he was tired of seeing. "Okay, come on, you, back to the Waiting Room".

As the two men walked down the long corridors of Project Quantum Leap, the visitor taunted Al with annoying questions. "So that's it then? You leave Doctor Beckett in the desert to go and save those people?"

"Well what else can I do?"

"I don't know. And you say that the minute he does what he has to do, he'll just time jump again? Into a different person in a different year?"

"That's what happens, yeah?"

"Why?"

Al stopped walking and turned to the Doctor. "Why what?"

"Why does he leap the minute he does what your Ziggy does what he says he has to do?"

"Look, I don't know, I'm a soldier".

"And you've been doing this how long?"

Al took a deep breath. "Three years. And no, I don't know exactly why he leaps the way he does. Some of our top men think it's some unknown force that uses Sam to put right what once went wrong".

"So it's some kind of higher power?"

"That's what some of them think, yeah".

"And this 'higher power' doesn't think that I can save those people, whoever they are, from being atomised? And that Doctor Beckett can?"

"I guess so".

"I'm insulted! Now, which way was it to the Waiting Room?" The Doctor continued along the corridor and Al followed him. The Timelord spoke as he walked. "Like I said, 'time hop-scotch'. You know, Albert, when I travel through time, I always know exactly where I'm going. I have absolute control and can land whenever and wherever I want to with pinpoint accuracy".

"So what are you trying to say?"

"That maybe Doctor Beckett should have been a little more reluctant to test his wonderful time machine on himself".

Now Al stopped and grabbed hold of the Doctor's shoulder. "Look, that tears it! I've been working with Sam for years. He's touched so many people's lives, done so much good, and for what? Just to leap to the next person and have to start all over again. He sure as hell didn't do it so some nozzle like you could just make fun of him! Now we're going back to the waiting room, and I don't much care whether you're conscious when we get there or not!"

The two men rounded the next corner. The Doctor walked right up to the door of the Waiting Room, but suddenly paused. Al was now extremely irritated. "What?"

The Timelord turned to face his companion. "You know, this 'unknown force' you mention, if it knows what it's doing, maybe Ziggy's got it wrong".

"What do you mean? She's never got it wrong before".

"Well maybe, just maybe, this time, Sam didn't get put in my place to help the people in the desert. Maybe I was put here to help you".

Al was totally dismissive. "Through the door, ego case". He pressed a button, and the door to the Waiting room slowly slid aside. As the Doctor walked through it, he turned once more to Al. "I think you asked the right question when we left the imaging chamber".

"Which was?"

"Well let's put it this way. If I were you, I'd check that Gushie's got to".


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

For Sam, the last two miles had been arduous. Not because he was in the desert. It was warm, but not all that hot. Neither was it because of the strange events he'd just witnessed. Although what had just happened probably took the proverbial cake, he'd had to think on his feet in the past. It was because here he was, walking across the desert, with two people following him, talking to each other in hushed tones, who may ask an unanswerable question any minute.

It was about now that he realised he couldn't hear their footsteps anymore. He turned around, and saw them a good few feet behind him. He walked over to them. "Hey, what's going on?"

Rory clumsily tried to answer the question. "Well, Doctor, we think you're ill. Something happened on the TARDIS, and you've been acting really strangely ever since".

And if Rory's explanation hadn't been clear enough, Amy drove the point home even further. "And we've decided we're not taking another step until you tell us exactly what's going on".

Sam started to get a little nervous. "Look, guys, we don't have time for this. There are some people in danger in the desert and we need to help them".

But Amy wasn't convinced. "And just how do you know that?"

Sam's mind raced. "It was, ah…"

Amy cut him off. "Was it your friend 'Al'? The one you were talking to on the phone?"

Sam smiled in relief and nodded. "Yeah, that's right. Al told me there were people in danger".

Amy approached him with eyes that looked like they were trying to see through him. "Don't believe you. Why have you never mentioned Al before?"

"I know a lot of people. And today Al contacted me".

"So who is he?"

"A guide. A friend".

Amy gazed straight into his eyes. "Be more specific. We want to know".

Sam had been right. He didn't have time for this. But he supposed he could hardly blame the couple for their behaviour. And they were time travellers. Maybe they would understand. Taking a deep breath, he began. "Okay. Have you ever heard of a man named Sam Beckett?"

Amy shook her head. "Should I have?"

But at the mention of the name, Rory's interest was piqued. "Wasn't he an American scientist?"

A smile crossed Sam's face. "That's right".

Rory tried to remember. "Wasn't he always in the news until about 1995? There are lots of conspiracy theories on the internet about what happened to him".

Sam knew it was now or never. "He invented a time machine. And, theorising that he could travel within his own lifetime, he went on a journey".

"You mean, on a journey in time?" asked Rory.

"That's right. And now – this may seem really difficult to believe – he's here. I'm Sam Beckett".

"No you're not", protested Amy. "You're the Doctor".

"I may look and sound like your friend. But I'm not him. You see, the way it works, I leap in to take someone else's place. The Doctor is now in 1998".

Amy was still sceptical. "So why are you here?"

"Ziggy – that's the computer at the project – thinks that I'm here to stop some people being killed in a nuclear experiment here in the desert. They're about three miles away now. Once I save them, I'll leap into a different place, and the Doctor will be back".

Rory tried to piece the whole thing together in his mind. "So you keep 'leaping' into different people's bodies, trying to stop disasters in time?"

"Weird, huh?"

"But that's crazy!"

"What, you mean like a British couple travelling through space and time in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside and looks like a wooden box?"

Rory looked like the wind had been driven out of his sails. "Fair point".

Amy and Rory looked dumbstruck as Sam went on. "But now I'd like you two to go back to the ship. Because whether you believe me or not, there are some people in danger and I have to save them".

The couple looked at each other. "No", said Amy, "we're coming with you".

"And besides", continued Rory, "I think one of the people you mentioned is just over there". Sam turned to follow the direction Rory was pointing in. As the man's features came into view, Sam's mouth dropped open. He turned around to face the British couple. "You can see him?" The pair nodded. "Of course we can", replied Amy. Sam turned to face the man again. His eyes hadn't been playing tricks on him. It was indeed the man he'd thought it was. As he neared the trio, he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Is that you, Doctor Beckett?"

Now it was Sam who was dumbstruck. "Gushie?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Amy Pond is good at waiting, thought the Doctor. Not me.

He'd been standing in the Waiting Room for over an hour now. He understood the mechanics of it all, of course: Doctor Beckett has to accomplish his mission before being pulled like a fish on a line to the next time period he needs to do something in (crude time hop-scotch!), and to make it work, the Doctor needs to be in the Waiting Room.

But he couldn't help thinking about the "unknown force" he'd discussed with Al, and how it seemed to remind him of something. Besides, walking into a nuclear testing site? That settled it. Amy and Rory needed his help.

Feeling his way around the circumference of the room, he only managed to detect a feint seam where the door was. Instinctively, he reached for his sonic screwdriver, only to be rudely reminded that he didn't have it anymore. He took a deep breath. Then he noticed something on the floor. He walked over to it and picked it up. It was a small, blank piece of paper, about the size of his hand. Someone must have dropped it.

But then an idea crept into his mind. He looked backward toward the door and then toward the piece of paper. Folding it carefully in two, he hoped he still remembered what his previous selves had learned.

The four of them hurried through the desert, knowing there was absolutely no time to lose. Sam knew they would be near the place Al had pointed to by now, and that they would have absolutely no margin for error in rescuing the people who were caught in the blast, boarding whatever kind of vehicle was there, and riding safely back to the wooden box.

But even in this situation, he had more pressing questions on his lips. "Gushie, how can you possibly be here? What happened?"

The little scientist shrugged as he tried to keep up. "No idea".

"What you're Swiss cheesing?"

"No. That's the funny thing, I remember everything".

Sam shook his head. "Or you think you do".

Amy still wasn't sure what was going on. "Doctor Beckett, who is this?"

Sam smiled at her. "This is Gushie. He's one of the scientists who worked on my time travel project".

"But how can he be here? Did he use the time machine to come here too?"

Amy's question caused Sam to give Gushie a stern look. "Is that what happened?"

Gushie shook his head frantically. "No! I never go near the quantum leap accelerator. Never! I was just standing outside the Imaging Chamber waiting for Al and the Doctor when, bam! All of a sudden I'm standing in a street in Chicago in 1958!"

"Then why come here?"

"Well you know my memory isn't great at the best of times. Once I realised I really had time travelled, all I knew is that you were here in 1959. I got a job fixing radios and television sets, and then came here to meet you".

"What here in the desert where nuclear weapons are being tested?"

"What choice did I have? I just thought that you or Al may be able to help".

As Sam shook his head in disbelief, Amy cautiously questioned Gushie. "So you were just standing in a corridor and suddenly you got zapped here?"

Gushie nodded. "That's pretty much it".

It was then that Rory noticed his wife's body language change. She turned white and looked as though she was shivering, even here in the desert. Rory put his arm around his wife. "Amy, are you okay?"

Amy reached up to hold her husband's hand, wrapped around her shoulder. "Just worried".

Rory gave his usual reassuring smile. "It'll be okay. I'm sure the Doctor has everything figured out".

She turned to her husband, her bottom lip quivering. "He's the one I'm worried about".

Rory didn't get the opportunity to ask why. Coming over a mesa, they caught sight of the people Al must have sent them to rescue: two young men, presumably in their early twenties, grubbily dressed, and with two dozen empty beer bottles around them. Both were lying under the Arizona sun.

Sam ran over to them and examined them.

"Are they okay?" asked Gushie.

"Yeah, they're alright", replied Sam. "Just totally out of it".

"And I suppose that's the vehicle your friend mentioned", said Rory, pointing to a small dirt bike on the ground.

Four hearts sank. They had so little time left and the bike would only be able to carry two people at the most. Rory gripped Amy a little tighter, and Sam and Gushie exchanged a despairing glance.

It was then that Sam heard the clunking of a metal door. Spinning around, he saw Al entering the Imaging Chamber. The hologram was mumbling, half to Sam, half to himself. "Sorry I've been away so long, was looking for Gushie, no idea where he's got to". He stopped in his tracks as he caught sight of the little scientist. "What? Why, you…! What are you doing in the Imaging Chamber?"

Sam walked over to his friend as the Imaging Chamber door closed behind him. "He can't hear you, Al?"

Al looked confused. "What?"

Sam just smiled. "He's not in the Imaging Chamber. He's here. Now. 1959".

Al's mouth dropped open. He was about to say something, when Amy broke free of her husband's grip. "Al! You're here! Look, I know you can hear me, but I think you and the Doctor, I think you're all in terrible danger. You've got to get back to the Doctor! Please!" Rory tried to hug her again, but she wouldn't let her.

Now Gushie was confused. "They're in danger? Lady, what about us?"

Amy continued, trying to put things as clearly as she could. "Look. Gushie says he never went near the time machine you have. He shouldn't be here. But there's one other thing that could have happened. One terrible danger the Doctor and I have faced together that could kill you both now. Al, you've got to find the Doctor now!"

Somehow Sam sensed truth in her words. "Al, how long before the bomb hits?"

Al punched some keys and Ziggy gave out a beeping sound. "Twenty-eight minutes, forty seconds".

"Then go", said Sam. "Just get to the Doctor, tell him what's happened".

"But what about you?"

"We won't all be able to make it back to the TARDIS. This Doctor sounds a smart guy. Smarter than me. If anyone can help us now, maybe it's him".

Al took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, five minutes. Then I'll be right back". With that Al pressed another button on the hand module, opening the doorway. He took a step back, leaving the Imaging Chamber, closing the door behind him.

Al hurried along the corridors, trying to get back to the Waiting Room as quickly as he could. He could really do without the Doctor's personality now. But then something caught his eye, totally interrupting his train of thought. As he passed the control room, he saw something out of the corner of his eye hunched over the colourful glowing module that housed Ziggy's mainframe. He stopped running and took a step closer. What he saw he would have never expected in a hundred lifetimes.

There in front of him was a winged statue, like something he'd be more likely to see in an old garden. It had one finger pointed toward part of the panel, its hand on its chin, almost as if it were contemplating how the machine worked. Al took another step closer. Impossible, he thought. He must be dreaming. That's the only explanation for Gushie turning up in 1959 and now this. Well, he thought, there's only one way to be sure that you're dreaming.

Al took a long hard blink. And as he did, he felt a hand grab his shoulder.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Slowly he opened his eyes again, and he couldn't believe what he saw; the statue was still there, hunched over the control panel in exactly the same position as when he closed them. He wasn't dreaming. So what on earth was going on?

As if in answer to that thought, Al heard the Doctor's voice behind him. "Don't move. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead!"

Totally ignoring that advice, Al whirled around to see the man whose arm was on his shoulder. "Doctor? What the hell is going on?"

"I said don't turn around!" the Doctor exclaimed irritably, whirling the other man around to face the statue again.

Al decided to play along for the moment. After what he'd seen this day, he felt he really didn't have a choice. For some reason he kept his voice to a whisper, perhaps because he didn't want to wake the statue. "How the hell did you get out of the Waiting Room?"

From behind him, the Doctor held a screwed up piece of paper. "Makeshift lockpick".

"But the Waiting Room doesn't even have a keyhole!"

"It has a seam though".

"So you're telling me you got through the door with a piece of paper?"

"Venusian origami. Swear by it".

The Doctor threw the crumpled piece of paper onto the floor in front of Al, who then turned his mind to more pressing matters. "So what is that thing? Looks like just a statue to me".

"That's exactly what it is. Although it isn't that at all".

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It's a Weeping Angel. It's a statue when you see it. But when you turn your head, when you blink, it becomes something else entirely".

Straining to keep facing forward, Al went on questioning the Doctor. "Like what?"

"Something fast. Something terrible. Something beyond your imagination. Al Calavicci, welcome to my world".

Al resisted the urge to turn around again as the Doctor went on. "This is why that unknown force you mentioned sent me here. If it gets its hands on Doctor Beckett's time machine, there's no telling what it could do".

Getting over the initial shock, Al was irritated. "So the force sent you here? Just to get the 'Weeping Angel'? And where Sam went was totally inconsequential?"

"Quite, quite".

"Then that's great. He's about to get blown to kingdom come by an atom bomb, and it doesn't even matter!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"That Sam, and your friends, have just found the people Ziggy sent them to save; two drunks in the desert. And the vehicle? A small dirt bike that can carry two at the most! And that isn't important?"

"Of course it's important!" the Doctor countered. "But what's happening here could change the world. If this force you told me about is cognizant, it must have realised it needed me here, now".

"And why would that be?"

"Because I've dealt with them before. If it hadn't been for me, you'd be – "

"- back in time?" interrupted Al.

"What?"

"Back in time. Like Gushie. I've just found him in 1959 with Sam. And he's about to be blown up with the rest of them! What the hell is going on?"

Al didn't get the reply he'd wanted. Instead, there was only silence. But somehow, he was aware it was a silence filled with the Doctor's thought. He _had _fought these creatures before. And what's more, he'd won. Before Al had the chance to speak again, he saw the Doctor's finger pointing to a door. "That's the acceleration chamber, right?"

"How on earth – ?" Al cut himself off, knowing he had no time to argue. "Yes".

"Right. I'm going to need your help. I can save everyone, but you must do exactly as I say".

Al knew time was short. "Okay. What do you need?"

"Help me push the statue into the accelerator. Just keep your eyes open".

Al didn't bother questioning anymore. The two men simply walked up to the statue, and pushed with all their might. At first nothing happened. But then, Al became aware that they'd made some headway. Faster and faster they pushed, until they finally managed to fling the statue into the empty room. Al pressed a button and the door closed in front of them.

Almost immediately the two men heard a series of excruciatingly loud bangs. Al looked quizzically at the Doctor.

"It's trying to get out", said the Timelord.

"So what now?" asked Al.

"You said there was a dirt bike in the desert".

"Yeah, maybe enough to carry two people".

"Then it needs to be Doctor Beckett and Amy. No one else".

"What, so they can just be blown apart by the bomb?"

"No, because I need Doctor Beckett in the TARDIS, and Amy's faced the Weeping Angels before. Just this once I need to use people's ignorance against them".

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"That this time, the Weeping Angel could be their salvation".

Al turned around to face his companion, still distracted by the constant banging sounds coming from the acceleration chamber. "What are you talking about?"

The Doctor touched Al on the shoulders. "Look, this may be difficult to explain, but I can still save them all. Just go and tell Amy that's my plan. She'll understand".

"Look. Six people are about to die in 1959 –".

Now the Doctor cut him off. "- and you could only ever save two. Look, you have to trust me now. Ask Sam and Amy to get back to the TARDIS. I'll do the rest".

Al took a deep breath. For all his inhumanity, this Doctor had a point. "Anything else you need?"

"Yes, I need to know the exact moment Gushie arrived in the past".

Somehow knowing better than to argue, and amid the terrible banging sound, Al headed back to the Imaging Chamber.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

She'd just about given up. Amy had been trying to rouse one of the men, but it was no use. Looking over to the empty bottles, she sighed. It was just too great an attraction to some people.

A few feet away, Doctor Beckett was talking to Gushie, when suddenly he heard the sound of a door opening. "Al?"

"Sam?" said the hologram in panicked tones. "You've got to get out of here!"

"What about the bomb?"

Amy, Rory and Gushie spun around, knowing that the time traveller was talking to the hologram.

Ignoring the obvious attention on him, Al continued. "Look. There's a problem at Project Quantum Leap. The Doctor says that you and Amy need to get back to the TARDIS now. On the bike!"

"But I can't just leave everyone here!"

Al shrugged his shoulders. "I know, but the Doctor says he had a plan".

Getting impatient, Amy took point. "Doctor Beckett. What's he saying?"

"That you and me need to get back to the TARDIS on the bike, and to leave everyone else here".

Amy shot a glance toward her husband. "No! We can't do that! What about Rory and these other people?"

She waited as Sam reiterated the question to his invisible companion.

"Amy", he said, "do you trust the Doctor?"

A deathly silence followed. Only the feint desert wind could be heard. When Amy replied, it made Al jump. "With every fibre of my being".

"Then go", said Al to Sam, "get on the bike and get back to the ship. He says he knows what he's doing, and that's all I know".

With that, Sam walked over to the bike, lifted it up, and throttled its engine to life. A shower of sand flew up, and he nodded to Amy to join him.

After she'd sat on the seat behind Sam, Al remembered. "Oh, and I need to know exactly when Gushie appeared after he disappeared from the project".

Relaying the question to his friend, Gushie gave the exact time and place.

Al looked at his console. "Sam, you'd better hurry! You've only got twelve minutes left!"

And with that, Sam revved up the engine and he and Amy seemed to fly across the desert floor back to the Gallifreyan timeship.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Al left the imaging chamber to see the Doctor rewiring the Quantum Accelerator. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What I have to", the other man replied. It was at this point that Al became aware of the terrible banging. It mustn't have stopped the whole time.

"So when was it?" asked the Doctor.

"Huh?"

"When did Gushie reappear?"

"June the 18th 1958. In Chicago!"

A grim smile came to the Doctor's lips. "1918. Get ready to meet Rory Williams". He pushed a lever on the machine, and the deafening sound of static echoed through the room. Al and the Doctor covered their ears. After a few minutes, they both stood up and put their hands by their sides. Al's ears were ringing. And the terrible banging had stopped.

She'd been vaguely aware of the two men pushing her up a ramp. Even in her dormant state, nothing could totally prevent her from knowing what was going on. It was when the steel door closed behind her that she became fully aware again. Here she was, trapped in the cold metal room, prisoner of the flesh.

She deserved better than this. She _was _better than this. And so she approached the door, and began to pound with all her might, knowing that it would give way under the irresistible force of the blows within just a few minutes.

But these were precious minutes she didn't have. Even before the steel structure began to buckle, she was aware of a dazzling white light. Filling the whole chamber it soon started to sear at her form. Deeper and deeper it penetrated until all she was aware of was a blinding light. And then silence.

As the light faded, she became vaguely aware of the sandy floor she was now standing on. She had somehow been transported into the open air. Only one thought flickered though her mind: sustenance!

As the light faded, she grew aware of the young man standing in front of her, covering his eyes; an easy target. Racing toward him, she touched him on his forearm, and she felt his potential energy seep into her body as he vanished from view.

When the euphoria was over, she turned her attention to the smaller man shouting into the desert. Her ears weren't accustomed to the strange language he was speaking. She heard the words "Doctor Beckett" repeated over and over again, but she didn't understand. And it didn't matter; all that was important was that he couldn't see her. Racing over to him, she placed her hand on his head, and he was no more.

After that it was a simple matter to leech energy out of the sleeping lifeforms and watch them vanish into infinity. Standing upright in the light of the planet's star, she felt her life return to her once more. She remembered the ages past when her race were totally dominant in the galaxy. She thought of a return to her former glory. And then she became dimly aware of something falling toward her.

Sam and Amy reached the TARDIS, and with no time to spare. Sam couldn't remember the last time he'd travelled so quickly, but that didn't matter now. He was his era's greatest scientific mind, and he knew the effects of an atom bomb better than anyone. Stopping the motor, and running to the small blue box, he fumbled for the key in his pocket. Dragging it out, he managed to push it into the small hole and twist it. Feeling the door open, he quickly shoved his companion into the vehicle. He turned around, and seeing a blinding white light, he followed her in, bolting the door behind him.

Amy let out a panicked sigh. "So we're back, but what about the others?"

Her companion straightened up and grinned. "Oh, come on , Pond, they're fine. I said I had the matter all in hand, and that's exactly where it is!"

Amy brushed the tears from her eyes. "Doctor?"

"Who else?"

The pair were interrupted as they heard a violent series of bangs and crashes coming from the outside of the TARDIS. The Doctor pointed his right index finger toward his companion. "One moment".

He walked to the door of the TARDIS, and nudged it slowly open. There outside were the remains of a stone head, blown several miles by a mighty explosion. The Doctor could only manage a small whisper. "Note to tenth self: you _can_ kill a stone".


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The darkness and loneliness now seemed to consume him as he paced the corridors. Al had managed to get out of the Imaging Chamber just in time to witness Doctor Beckett's latest quantum leap. It was now the early hours of the morning, and sleep was the only thought on his mind.

Suddenly his silence was interrupted. He heard a whooshing sound carried through the corridors of the top secret base. Rushing through the man made labyrinth, he just managed to catch sight of a blue box appearing right outside the imaging chamber.

His mouth hung open as the door opened, and the shocked form of Gushie left the bizarre craft. Looking at his surroundings, the little scientist seemed to nod an affirmative; he was now in a location he was familiar with. Taking a deep breath, he ran past Al and further into the complex.

As Al approached the wooden box, another person stepped out of it. Someone who Al had already met, but in a totally different situation. Neither man really knew what to say, so the Doctor decided to break the silence. "Al Calavicci, welcome to my world".

Al could only point to the strange craft. "The TARDIS?"

"Exactly", exclaimed the Doctor as he closed the door behind him. "Needed to get your friend home. He seemed a bit panicked. Will he be okay?"

Al nodded. "Gushie's tougher than he looks. He'll be fine. What about you?"

"The minute the bomb went off I went back to my own body. How's Doctor Beckett?"

Al folded his arms. "He's okay. He landed in 1992 in California. It was night, so he can finally get a bit of sleep. It's not all glamour for some time travellers, you know".

The Doctor took a sharp breath in and nodded. "Yes. That's the reason I wanted to talk to you".

"Talk to me?"

"Yes. You see, I lied. When I said I can always control where the TARDIS goes, I was lying to you. Some days are easy to get to, like Saturday afternoons and Friday evenings, but some places put up so much resistance –".

Al noticed the pause. "Doctor. What are you trying to say?"

The Timelord straightened up, trying to look as dignified and truthful as possible. "I'm trying to say that Doctor Beckett's a good man. Such a good man that I went back to get him".

Al snapped to attention. "So did you get him?"

The Doctor frowned. "I calculated sixty-five different times where Doctor Beckett materialised. Rory and Amy may not realise it, but I used the TARDIS computer to find him".

"So what happened?"

"I tried, I really tried. But the TARDIS wouldn't materialise in any of those times. I'm sorry, I really am. In all my travels, no one has deserved my help more than Doctor Beckett. But I couldn't give it to him. I'm sorry".

As Al nodded, the Doctor walked slowly back to his TARDIS. Just before he entered it he turned around. "It's funny. Maybe it's the same unknown force that moves us both".

Closing the door behind him, the TARDIS began to glow. An intrusive whooshing sound was heard as it faded from Al's retinas leaving him alone in the cold corridors seen by so few men.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Wake up, Dad. You gotta see this!"

Rubbing his eyes, Sam tried to remember what had happened. He'd been in the Arizona desert in 1959, but he realised that he'd materialised in 1992, more than thirty years later. And he'd just had a great night's sleep.

But now David, the son of the man he'd just leaped into, was waking him vigorously from his dream. Sam was quite shaken by this. "Hey, calm down! What's the matter?"

"You have to see this. It was on 'Paranormal Tonight'! I taped it. Come and look!"

Sam walked reluctantly down the stairs as the young man led him to the VCR. Pushing the tape in and turning on the television set, Sam saw amateur footage of what seemed to be an alien spaceship lifting off from a back alley. The narrator on the programme seemed totally convinced by the validity of the footage.

David looked at his impromptu father. "Hey, Dad, is that cool or what?"

Sam kept watching the footage. In a small corner of the screen, he saw what looked like an antique police phone box fade from view. Nowhere near as impressive as the ship overhead, but far more meaningful to Sam.

David refused to shut up. "So, Dad, what do you think?"

Sam just smiled. "Go get 'em, pal".


End file.
